In a rare interview with Apple Daily, Hong Kong film star Chow Yun Fat’s Singaporean wife, Jasmine Tan recounted the fateful day in 1992 when she discovered that her daughter was stillborn. “It was only one week from the expected date of birth,” Jasmine told the tabloid.
It took her a painful seven years to recover from the loss. Jasmine recalled that she suspected something was wrong when her child stopped kicking her belly one day. After discovering this, the couple made their way to a clinic in Mong Kok. As it was raining heavily, the pair had to wade through knee-deep water to get to the clinic. Once they got there, they learned that Jasmine needed to be admitted into hospital immediately.
At St. Teresa’s Hospital, scans showed that the couple’s child had been strangled by its own umbilical cord. The doctor and nurses did not quite know how to break the news to Jasmine and instead, asked if Yun Fat would inform her instead.
Still, Jasmine insisted on pushing out her stillborn child. Afraid that it would hurt her tremendously, Yun Fat asked for the nurses to take the baby away as he did not want to see his wife in pain.
Jasmine later told The Straits Times in 1997 that her husband was a huge source of support for her and stayed by her side for five days after her ordeal. “He didn’t go home and he didn’t shave. We slept together in the same hospital bed,” she recounted. Till today, the couple remain childless but have channeled all their energy into giving back to the community and would make private donations to benefit the public.
